Rein-holder



(No Model.)

D. H. BLASGOW.

REIN HOLDER.

No. 533,409. Patented Jan. 29, 1895.

A TTOBNEYS.

0.. WASMINGTDN n c NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID I-I. BLASOOW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO WILLIAM J. KINGSLAND, OF SAME OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PLAOE,AND GEORGE A. LAUGI-ILIN,

RUN-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,409, dated January 29, 1895.. Application filed October 22,1894. Serial No. 526,597. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DAVID H. BLASOOW, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Rein-Holder, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in rein holders, and it has for itsobject to provide a holder of exceedingly simple, durable and economic construction, and one which is capable of being attached to a dash-board, whether the said board be curved or straight, without passing bolts through the board and without marring it.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the rein holder that it may be placed horizontally over the dash-board, or may be made to stand in a vertical position.

A further object of l the invention is to so shape the jaws of the holder that it will be impossible for the horse, or any person exerting tension on the reins in front of. the holder, from drawing said reins from the holder, or disengaging said reins from it.

Another objeotof the invention is to provide a means for adjusting the jaws, and a means whereby a receptacle for a whip may constitute an integral portion of the device.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,

3 5, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a rear elevation of the holder,

partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan'viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a front elevation; and Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In carrying out the invention the device proper consists of a base bar 10, which may be of any desired shape, and at each end of 4 5 this bar upon one of itsside faces, a post 11 is secured. In the drawings these posts are illustrated as provided with reduced and exteriorly threaded extremities, and one ex tremity of each post is screwed into suitable 5o openings made in the base bar, while the opposite extremity of each post is adapted to receive a cap 12 of any description.

Two lugs 13 and 14 are employed in connection with each of the posts, and these lugs are each provided at one of their ends with an aperture sufficiently large to loosely receive the threaded extremity of a post, since one lug is to be located at or near each end of the post. The lugs of each post are made to face inwardly, or substantially in direction of each other, but they are given somewhat of a rearward inclination, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The lower lugs arelocated between the base and the shoulder of the posts 11 formed by the reduction of their lower ends, while the upper lugs are located between-the caps 12 and the shoulders formed by the reduction of the upper ends of the posts, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

Two jaws 15 are located between the posts 11, being fulcrumed in the lugs 13 and 14:. These jaws are provided with convexed for ward faces, and their upper inner edges are rounded off or beveled; and the front face of each jaw, as shown in Fig. 3, is provided with a series of grooves 16, diagonally formed therein, whereby the grooves are more or less of a spiral shape, the grooves being made to extend from the outer edges of the jaws in an upwardly direction to and through their inner or opposing edges, whereby the rear edges of the jaws have more or less of a toothed formation.

' The jaws are held in position through the medium of spindles 17, which spindles are passed through lugs 18 formed upon the back of the jaws at top and bottom, and through the lugs 13 and 14 of the posts, and each spin- .dle is surrounded by a spring 19, having bearing at one end against the rear portion of the jaw and at the opposite end against the rear portion of the post with which the jaw is connected. The springs act in a manner to throw the jaws forwardly, and the said jaws are prevented from being carried beyond a predeter- 9 5 mined point by offsets 20 on the jaws, as shown in Fig. 1, engaging with the lower lugs.

The distance between the jaws when they are closed or in their normal position is less than the thickness of the reins or lines that I00 are to be passed between them. The jaws open in a rearwardly direction. Thus in operation, the reins are passed through the jaws from the top into the space between the two jaws, the jaws opening rearwardly to receive the reins, and after the reins are in position the toothed or ribbed surfaces of the jaws will firmly contact therewith and hold the reins in place, and it is obvious that when tension is applied to the reins from the front of the jaws the latter will be forced to bind only the more firmly upon the lines or reins. Therefore an animal can not jerk the reins loose from a holder, nor can the animal dislodge the reins by its tail, since the upward inclination of the grooves or channels in the jaws, forming the upwardly extending or spiral ribs or teeth, will prevent the reins from working upward or outward from between the jaws; but the lines or reins may be readily released from the back of the. device by simply drawing the reins inward, whereby the jaws will be opened, and slipping the reins at the same time in an upwardly and outwardly direction.

In the simpler form of this device, the posts 11 are made in one piece, and an upper lug 14 is formed integral wtih, or may be firmly attached to each post; and the spindles 17 at at their lower ends are journaled in the base bar 10, the lower lug upon each jaw being made to strike the post near which it is located when the jaws are in their normal position.

A standard 20 is employed in connection with the base bar 10 of the holder proper, and this standard may be secured either in one end of the base bar, whereby the holder may be maintained in a horizontal position as shown in Fig. 1, or the said standard may be attached to the lower central portion of the base bar, and the holder be maintained in a vertical position. To that end preferably one extremity of the standard is threaded, and two threaded apertures are made in the base bar, one of the apertures 21 being in the central portion of its bottom, while the other aperture 22 is in the end of the bar; and preferably the aperture that is not brought into action is closed by a plug 23 of any description.

The standard may be of any cross sectional shape, but is ordinarily and preferably fiattened upon one of its sides. A clamp A is provided to receive the standard, and it is likewise employed for attaching the standard and the holder to the dash-board B of the vehicle. This clamp comprises two members 24 and 25, having a longitudinal opening 26 between their upper edges to receive the upper border I) of the dash-board, and a vertical or transverse opening 27, adapted to receive the side portion 1) of the said border of the dash-board.

The two members are preferably made of metal, but any material may be used, and they may be secured together-at or near their outer ends by means of screws 28 or their equivalents.

What maybe termed the inner member 25 is provided with a sleeve 29, through which the standard 20 is passed, and a set screw 30, is used to hold the standard in a predetermined position in the sleeve, the set screw engaging with the flattened surface of the standard.

If in practice it is found desirable,a circular band 31 may be formed integral with or may be attached to the outer end of the clamp A; and when the members are placed together the band will form a ring or seat for a whip socket 32.

.The clamp A is expeditiously and conveniently attached to a dash-board at one of its ends, and when attached will not mar the dash-board, since the inner faces of the plates composing the clamp may be covered with felt, or an equivalent material; and it is. obvious that bolts, or devices of that kind are not necessary. Consequently holes are not made in the board. Furthermore it is obvious that by reason of the adjustment of the standard 20, the rein holder proper may be fitted to any dash-board whether it be a straight or a curved one.

The object of making the lugs 13 and 14 independent of the posts 11, is that by carrying the said lugs farther to the rear or to the front than illustrated in Fig. 2, the jaws may be adjusted in their normal position closer together or farther apart to accommodate the thickness of the reins or lines in use.

By reference to Fig. 4 of the drawings it will be apparent that the clamp A may be readily adjusted to whip sockets of different diameters, as for instance, if the whip socket is of large diameter the screws 28 may be removed and the ends of the band 31 placed in contact with the outer faces of the clamp members 24 and 25, as shown in Fig. 4, and on replacing and tightening up the screws 28 the socketwill be securely held. In the event that the socket is of small size, the ends of the band 31 may be placed between the inner faces of the clamp members 24 and 25, and by tightening up the screws 28 the socket will be firmly clamped.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a rein holder, the combination of a base-bar having apertures at its end, posts having reduced end portions, lugs having perforations at each end, saidlugs being each arranged with one of its perforations on one reduced end of one post, said posts each having the extremity of one of its reduced ends fitted in the aperture in one end of the base-bar, nuts .screwing on the extremities of the outer reduced ends of the posts and adapted to hold the lugs in place thereon, jaws each having perforated lugs corresponding to the perforations in the outer ends of the lugs on the opposite end of one post, spindles through the lugs on the jaws and also those on the posts, and springs coiled on said spindles and adapted to hold said jaws in their normal position, substantially as set forth.

2. In a rein holder, the combination, with the holder proper, comprising a frame having an opening in one of its members, jaws pivoted one at each side of the opening, the said jaws having one of their faces spirally ribbed, the ribs extending from a point at or near the outer side substantially through the inner side, of a clamp, the same consisting of opposing members and set screws connecting the same, one of the members being provided with a sleeve and both members having a longitudinal and a vertical opening, the vertical DAVID H. BLASCOW.

Witn esses C. SEDGWIOK, F. W. HANAFORD. 

